The Warriors Way
by Bouddica
Summary: One girl must inherit a legacy, avenge the innocent, and most importunately save those she loves the most. Thea learns the importance of family, love, and that the line between good and evil is often blurred. AU where is all is not what it seems. (ON HIATUS)
1. Chapter 1

"The vigilante is still being hunted by police as the mystery of the green hooded man continues and grows, some report the vigilante is even some sort of _superhero, _eyewitness accounts claim the vigilante has ..." Her brother's obnoxious voiced drowned out the news she was _trying_ to listen too. Unlike what he might think not everyone in the car was interested or even cared about hearing some stupid excuse for why he crashed _another_ car. Thea blew out her breath as she leaned her head against the car window. Her Father was mad, again. Her brother was arguing back the two locked in a shouting match that always bordered on climatic. You should be more responsible, blah blah blah, someday your going to be the head of the family blah blah blah insert your the heir lecture blah blah blah. Then her brother, I don't care blah blah blah, it was only a car, it was only a night, I'm trying blah blah blah. It was always something that was really the same big thing. Her Father was disappointed in him, and her stupid brother was too weak to do anything about it. Weak wasn't the right word...he just didn't have the guts so to speak. And he never would. You couldn't learn to be the man her Father wanted his son to be, Thea had understood that a long time ago. It was something you were born with, something you either had or you didn't. And her brother didn't and her Father deep down knew that and resented him for it. It caused every situation to pulse with buried anger and disappointment. Every conversation the two had ended in a fight; not a mega-I'll-never-speak-to-you-again-your-disowned sort of fight but tense jabs back and forth that cause either one or both to leave the room shaking their heads and muttering under their breath. Thea smirked to herself, that's what made car rides special. No way out and only a couple of inches between them. It had begun with a, "How has school been?" Two minutes in and now they were yelling over the radio. She only got bits and pieces of the sound bite.

"Hooded vigilante seen at dark hours of the night on roof-tops..."

"Captain Lance here to tells us if he poses any real threat to Starling..."

"I have no respect for a man who murders people who he doesn't appear to 'like", the vigilante seems to target a large range of victims having no particular connection, he's killed members of the Triad to local CEO's of Starling there doesn't seem to be any particular pattern except..."

"WHY DO YOU WASTE ALL THE OPERTUNITES I GIVE YOU?" Her Father's voiced boomed over the radio, Thea just shivered imagining a dark figure stalking villains in the night. Killing them. The man seemed to kill anyone he wanted. How did he do it? She wondered, looking out the window at the blurry cityscape. What was the pattern to his crimes?

"What do you want me to do?' Her brother snapped. "You so obviously have this fantasy of your perfect son, who do you want me to be Dad? Just tell me so at least I know!"

"I all want is for you to be a man!" Her Father hissed. That shut her brother up, immediately he crossed his arms and looked out the window. Her Father sighed but said nothing. Thea swallowed. The silence hung thick around them.

"If anything all this vigilante stuff worries me!" Said a woman's voice on the radio. "Here is some random guy and he thinks this is just okay, just acceptable. Now that's a dangerous mentality, some where there is someone who thinks this is okay and I worry, I really do. What does this open up Starling too? If we let this continue it's going to be the beginning of something terrible, I can feel it. I say this as a warning to Starling City, this dark vigilante will only be the beginning. I sense darkness in this city." She shifted in her dress smoothing out the lilac satin in her lap over and over. The car stopped and her Father gave her brother a very long intense look. It always made him shift and squirm.

"I only want you to be strong." He said. Her brother didn't move still looking out the window. "Some day your going to understand that." With a huff her brother swung the door open and slammed it shut. Thea watched him walked away toward the Queen family mansion, it cast a very large shadow. She and her Father sat in the car for a second before she swallowed again. It wasn't her fight.

They exited the car and began the walk up to the house. "I can't believe it." She said. Her Father looked down at her.

"What Speedy?"

"That he's still alive." Her Father smiled at her. "I mean all those years and he suddenly just comes back.!"

"Hmmmm well stranger things do happen." They were quiet the rest of the way.

All three of them waited at the front door. A maid answered taking their coats and hats before leading them to the parlor. Like everything in the house it was rich and grand, antique boats and landscape paintings hung on the walls. The entire house smelt of old wood. They stood behind a crackling fire when they entered.

"Malcolm, thank-you so much for coming!" Mrs. Queen hugged her father.

"How could I not welcome your boy home?" He asked. She smiled and hugged her brother before glancing down at Thea.

"Mrs. Queen." She said, Mrs. Queen always stared directly into Thea's eyes. She smiled back and hugged her.

"I am so happy Oliver's back." She said. Mrs. Queen never embraced her back. She just slid from the hug and gave her a smile, an odd twinkle in her eyes.

"We all are." She said. Thea looked past the group to see Oliver, he was turning from the fire. He looked nothing like the Oliver Queen she knew. He seemed taller and more muscular, his face sharper and harder, everything about him seemed darker. His face, yes it was in his face, he was still very handsome and his smile was still the familiar devilish playboy grin. But there was something different about him, the way he walked and held himself. Something in his eyes just like Mrs. Queen. They both held a darkness in their blue eyes only Oliver's wasn't as deeply buried. He shook her Father's hand.

"Mr. Merlyn." He said. She had forgotten how deep his voice had been. Her Father and Oliver looked at each other for a moment before he looked down at Thea and smiled.  
>"Hey Speedy." He said grinning, she almost blushed.<p>

"Hey Ollie." Thea murmured, she felt the overwhelming need to hug him. _Stupid and by the way smooth. _She thought embarrassed. He hugged her instead. "I missed you, all of you." He said talking to the group. "I'm just grateful to be home now."

Mrs. Queen lead them to the dinning room. She sat next to Mr. Steele as Oliver and Tommy talked back and forth, she couldn't quite hear but Mrs. Queen and her Father were having a discussion, most likely about business. She focused on her eggs and watched Oliver. There was defiantly something different about him. If she didn't know any better she would call it something off. He caught her stare and smirked.

"And what have you been up to Speedy?" He asked, leaning over. She smiled, quickly hiding another blush and crossed her arms.

"Nobody calls me Speedy any more Ollie."

'Nobody calls me Ollie any more Speedy." She grinned.

"Fine, but my life so far will not be as interesting as yours, what was it like on the island?" The whole table stopped talking and Oliver stiffened.

"It was the worst time of my life." He said after a long moment. "But I became stronger you could say." Mrs. Queen tensed, her Father was giving one of those looks she could never decipher. Mr. Steele looked confused. Tommy gave a nervous laugh.

"Heard you were giving out little gifts too, do I get one of those T-shirts where it says my friend was marooned on an island and all I get is this lame T-shirt?" Everyone gave a laugh and brunch continued with a dessert of rich bunt cake. She only felt Mrs. Queen's eye on her a couple of times before the woman broke the stare to look down at her plate or out a window.

Only she and her Father road home, Thea fearing it would be another one of those months when Tommy and her Father barley acknowledged each other. It was a sort of game the two would play. Their own little power struggle to see who would cave in first and try to make peace. Tommy had never won. The radio featured another news update on the vigilante.  
>"Think he's really that evil?" She asked. Her Father chuckled.<p>

"It is only a matter of time before a man has to take matters in his own hands. Most people just aren't strong enough to do it." She shrugged.

"Do you think I would make a good vigilante?" He gave her a sideways look.

"A vigilante?" He turned down the radio.

"Yeah, like the bad men who killed Mom, they were never caught but their some where out there. I think I could do it. I could track them down and take justice into my own hands too. I'm strong enough. You train me every day. I could do it." He was quiet and she continued. "I'm not weak you know. I would track down Mom's killers and give them justice. I'd give lots of villains justice, I'd be different from the vigilante cause I'd actually get bad guys." He reached across and stroked her hair.

"This city is full of too much evil for even you to cleanse."

"But I could at least get the real bad ones!" She said. He smiled and Thea saw sadness.

"But that's the thing Thea, even if you cut the weed, as long as the roots still fester in the soil it will simply grow right back. The only was to get rid of the evil is to destroy it all. Everything. That is the only true way to cleanse. We must..." Thea frowned. As her father eye's took on the empty look Tommy had once talked of. She saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel.

"You mean cut the roots out of the soil?" She asked. He looked at her as if remembering then nodded.

"No, no one must do more that. We have to dig all the soil out too, and plant something else in its place. That is the only way Thea. You must trust me." She leaned back in her seat, frustrated at not understanding the look in everyone's eyes. She turned away and stared at the rear-view mirror, _objects in mirror are closer than they appear _it read, she saw her own face, almost identical to her fathers. The same dark brown hair pulled back in a braid falling down her shoulder. She would be lying if she said it didn't slight both her. Every problem could be solved. She had been taught that from an early age. There was no enemy a great warrior couldn't defeat, that's what her Father had told her. He seemed to think that there was no solution to the evil that roamed Starling and something inside Thea, something she very rarely felt, something she couldn't identify, slid to the bottom of her stomach just thinking about. It almost went against her life philosophy.

"I could make you proud, I could be the strongest in the family Daddy." She stiffened not being able to stop the thought that escaped her lips. To her surprise her Father just smiled and said quietly,

"Every warrior must learn the simple truth, that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional." Thea didn't understand what he meant.


	2. The Road Less Traveled

Authors Note: If I owned Arrow, Felicity's last name would be Queen. A big thank you to Naitch03 for my first review, I hope I impress!

Rebecca Merlyn- _Loving Mother and Wife. We will never forget you. _The grave was simple but elegant. A smooth dark marble stone jutting out of the perfectly manicured lawn. The air was crisp, her breath forming in the morning air, overhead the birds chirped and the sun rose. It was another beautiful Saturday. Thea could only stare at the name on the headstone, conjuring up fantasies of the woman that lay below. The only memory Thea had of her Mother was a grave. From her earliest memory and beyond, always the grave. Standing before it she always racked her brain, searching for some other memory of the woman's embrace, a song maybe, or a feeling of love and warmth. Nothing, always nothing. She always felt tears at the sight of the tombstone, of the loss of the Mother she would never have. Thea didn't have an image of her Mother, not even so much as a foggy memory. It was the thought alone that drove her to tears of pain and frustration. She turned away the moment she felt a welling in her eyes.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. Don't cry, don't be a baby. _She grinned to herself pulling up her coat and clearing her throat among the grave yard. The statures of angels and children watched her from all angles as she walked off the sadness, her boots crunching underneath the grass. She walked to the graveyard gate and closed it on her way out. She left her grief at the gates, that's what her father had told her.

"Sadness and grief Thea," He had told her on a morning just like this, " Even rage, they are powerful emotions every warriors feels, that's why we fight for the ones we've lost. But you have to keep it all somewhere...Powerful emotions weaken the mind. I leave all of my Sadness with Mommy and she keeps it nice and safe for me." Thea had been young then, only eight and a half, "Let's me clear my head and focus on the mission ahead. Leave your emotions at the gates Thea, and Mommy will take good care of it." She hopped on her motorcycle and kicked up the stand, heading up the road back home. She cleared her mind and her face relaxed, she could feel her steady heartbeat as she rolled to a stop in front of the family mountain lodge.

It was a normal Saturday morning, the lodge was quiet, seemingly deserted, and Thea was prepared for all out war, her hands gripping the shinai perfectly. Not to tight but not to lose. It officially started at sunrise, the agreed upon time was when "the sun sat at the top of the mountain" as her father said. Thea was fine with that, she left her jacket by the motorcycle and waited outside, watching the sun rise, slowly emerging from behind the mountain. She counted in her head, practicing her breath, in (one) out (two) in (three) out (four) in (five) out (six) in (seven) out (eight) in (nine), the sun gave the appearance of balancing directly on top the mountain and she let out a breath. Her grip tighten on the shinai and she walked into the lodge.

The mountain lodge was much large than it appeared. From the outside, looking like a simple mansion with modern style, lots of windows and wood flooring but the house deceived at every turn revealing a hidden labyrinth of rooms and corridors, secret passage ways and new rooms that revealed themselves to Thea every time she visited. It had scared her from the time she was little, the fear still distantly tugging at the back of her mind. To her, the mountain lodge stretched on for infinity, a scary training ground that her father seemed to control. She closed the door as silently as possible and crouched slightly ready to strike, she smirked in the semidarkness, her father had closed many of the windows, blocking the morning light, allowing the darkness to pour out of the deeper hallways. She walked lightly through the main entrance, keeping her feet to the carpets and her back to the wall. She put both hands on her shinai and raised it to her normal position of striking. Thea went through the empty kitchen; dark and silent, the living room was the same. Everything an eerie still. She dreaded walking through the main hallway, it left her extremely exposed and she jumped at every creak and small sound, her own footsteps made her heart race. She came to the end of the hall, a massive grandfather clock stood, its ticks echoing through out the silence and her calm. She stood against the wall and watched the hallway, every door seemed to be slightly ajar, as if every angle were surrounded and watching her.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. Her hands began to sweat, the anticipation grating on her nerves. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. This was new...something always happened by now. Thea rushed down the next hall, running down the stairs. She stopped at the rec room. She saw a brief shadow flash across the wall. Jumping out she dashed behind the pool cabinet. She raised the shinai horizontally and breathed. So they were hiding down below, of course. Thea jumped from behind the wall and attacked nothing but air, feeling slightly sheepish she stood at the hallway arch, watching for anything, it was completely dark.

_Would it kill to turn on like, one light? _Thea looked into the dark hallway seeing nothing but a rectangle of blackness. She could still hear the grandfather clock ticking in her mind with her Father's voice saying something along the lines of "the only thing to fear is fear itself" it was now or never and Thea had never been one for passivity. She charged the darkness,

"AHHH" She plunged into the dark room, keeping her steady grip of the shinai. She hit a solid mass she assumed was a person. Multiple pairs of hands grabbed her. Neck, left arm and right shoulder. Thea's training did the rest. Her hands reacted quickly, dodging the tightening pair of hands around her neck and pushing the shinai in to the mass that let out a uhhhh, she struck again but felt a precise strike to her stomach and much larger hands grab her sword. Another kick to her stomach and gravity kicked in, with a loud cry Thea flew to the side, her sword lost to her in the darkness. She heard a door close and saw the last remaining light fade away, another cry escaped her lips as she was surrounded in complete darkness. Footsteps, one heavy and one light, a whooshing from above. Her arms were grabbed and for a moment she panicked,

_Think, think, think, breath, com'on think. _Thea kicked out and jumped landing on her attacker, the body was tall but slim, Thea reaching her way up to the neck, the heavy footsteps came closer until she could hear his breath. The taller attacker, obviously highly trained, was reaching back to grab her, but Thea had a plan, she reached out a grabbed a fistful of the fast approaching footstep's shirt and was delighted when she felt a long braid.

_Perfect._ She yanked on the braid as hard as she could, and with her other hand dropped down ramming both of her attackers into each other as fast and hard as she could. Thea rolled out of the way still keeping her foot to feel them, they let out gruff male yelps at the collision, with her eyesight adjusting she could make out a jumbled mass of two crumpled figures in the darkness. She smirked triumphantly, wishing her father could have seen her clever victory. Her head snapped up.

_Find the shinai_, and she dropped even lower, crawling around in the darkness searching for the fallen sword. Thea never herd the third swoosh, light as the wind. Moving so fast she barely registered what happened as she was kicked from behind then flipped over, she let out a pained scream then a gasp as she was lifted up and slammed against a wall, pain pulsed through out her spine but Thea was determined to fight, though her arms where pinned, she lifted her legs and pushed out, suddenly into air it seemed. Her attacker let her go to doge her kick only to expertly pick her back up again. Thea tried again, using her whole body to flip herself out of the hold, only end up grunting and struggling underneath the vice like grip. She gritted her teeth and tried the same move over and over. She struggled, her stomach burning from trying to pull and kick her self free. Frustration clouded her mind and rage at being so hopeless boiled in her blood. She wanted a gun, she wanted to shoot all those physically stronger than her. That would show her father how strong she was, it wasn't about real strength after all right? Only the strength of pulling the trigger. Thea struggled and let of a furious growl, her arms and legs twisting back and forth, wouldn't her Father help her by now? Was the next phase of training going to be beating until she won?

_I don't need his help anyway! _She thought furiously struggling. Tears welled up in her eyes. The darkness was becoming clearer.

"Thea, honey relax." Her Father's voice rung clear and void of any emotion through out the room and suddenly the lights blazed on. Harsh florescent bulbs buzzed several feet overhead. She came face to face with the man holding her down and let out a gasp. His face was covered in a mask, strange green sockets stared down at her, the real human eyes lost behind. Two other figures wearing the same mask looked down at her, the biggest man was holding down her legs, and the other two had hold of each arm. The man with the his hands on her left arm stared at her the close, his head tilting to the side. She felt her pure rage slowly sink back down in her mind. Her breath came out in harsh heaves. She stared at the man unblinking.

_Night vision,_ she thought blankly, taking in the light. Thea realized she was in the training room and her father came to stand over her, he was smirking.

"Let her go." He told the masked trio. They immediately let go, backing away, slowly disappearing from view. With the pressure released from her arms and legs she smirked too, who had once said they had identical smirks? Her father helped her sit up and thumbed a fresh bruise on her face. She could feel a stinging pain in her stomach, she tasted blood in her lips. Her wrists turned a deep shade of purple.

"You let your anger get the best of you." He said calmly, she felt her face flush, angry at being angry. "But it took all three of you to hold her back, and it was in complete darkness." He turned to the three masked men and smirked. "I told you Thea was strong. You're just lucky she didn't have a real sword." One of the men pulled off his mask chuckling,

"I am impressed." He said, his voice deep and heavily accented. Thea looked at him, the man seemed to be middle eastern, tall and lean, his black hair curling down to his ears and blocking his eyes. He was around Tommy's age, she laughed in her mind at the thought of Tommy being a trained warrior of some kind. "Your little girl has enough fire to make up for sloppy technique." Thea frowned and slid off the table standing with her father and the man. She suddenly wished to be taller as they all looked down at her.

"I just haven't stared serious training yet." Thea cringed at the sound of her own voice, the statement sounded pouty and childish. Her father put his hands on her shoulder,

"Thea, this is my good friend Ansari." She looked through the locks of hair, trying to find his eyes, he simply smirked at her.

"Nice to meet you." She said holding out her hand, Ansari shook firmly and she caught a brief glimpse of his dark eyes.

'It is a pleasure to finally meet the Magician's esteemed daughter." His voice held a hint of a English accent. Ansari cocked his head to the side. "Your father speaks very highly of you Thea." She smiled,

"Thank-you?" He drew something from behind him., "You dropped this." He held out her shinai pointing it at her shoulder. "Don't bring a weapon if you can't keep hold of it." He said handing it to her. Thea frowned again, already not liking his smugness. Her want for a gun returned. She gripped the shinai and looked to her Father. He was no longer smiling.

"What did I tell you child?" He asked. She looked down.

"To leave my emotion at the gates and remember who I fight for." She repeated the mantra he had taught her long ago.

"And did you?"

"No, not really."

"From the moment you stepped in this house you were shaky with fear and anger. Control you emotions Thea, a warrior must never lose his calm." She looked up and he sighed. "Never lose _her _calm. Leave it at the gates, if you can't, than perhaps I won't step in next time." She sighed running her hands over the carved wood of the shinai.

"Visualize who you fight for Thea, who do you fight for?" She looked up and felt a sob at the back of her throat.

"Its easy for you Daddy, you can remember Mom, you can close your eyes and think of what she looked like or how great she was, but I have nothing!" She threw her shinai to ground and it spit into three pieces, cracking on the hard ground. "I can't remember anything about her! She's just a name to me, I don't even have baby memories! How am I suppose to fight for her when I can't even remember her? **I don't have anything, I love her but I don't even know who I love!** Its so unfair!" She hadn't meant for the anger of that morning to spill over into her words. Thea never meant to shout. Ansari stood looking at the broken shinai, her father frowned, his face taking on a cold marble look. It was the face Tommy feared and Thea swallowed, fearing_ she_ had gone to far. Instead he turned to Ansari and spoke in a language she didn't understand. He nodded and her father looked to her.

"Training is done for today." Ansari was gone in a matter of seconds, leaving Thea blinking, trying to see where the other two had gone. Her Father was already have way to the door. Was he going to cancel all of her training? Would he treat her like Tommy now? Her face paled at the thought, she'd endure a hundred rough training sessions as long as she didn't end up like Tommy. Her mind jumped to the worst possible scenarios.

"Wait, Daddy!" She said, running after him, he was already in the rec room and she rushed to keep up with his fast pace, ignoring the pain in her stomach. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. His face was still cold and blank. She swallowed, nervously trying to read his expression. "Daddy," She began but he stopped her.

"Follow me to the office Thea." He turned and she had to jog to keep up, her nerves making each step wobbly, the pain in her stomach was intense.

The walk upstairs to his office was a quiet and dark as her walk down to the training room. He closed the door when they entered and motioned for her to take a seat. She chose the black leather love seat. The relief from all the standing was wonderful but the nervousness she felt made her nauseous. She bounced her knee up and down, up and down as her Father moved behind the desk, sliding open the door he grabbed a small black box. He took a set next to her.

"You will never know what a beautiful person Rebecca was Thea, how kind and gentle and how much you remind me of her every day." He cleared his throat, a rare sign of emotion clouding his voice. "I am so sorry and angry and sad you will never know her and she will never know you. She would love you Thea, just like I do." He looked at her for a minute that seemed to stretch on for eternity. Thea saw the sadness in his eyes. He gave her the black box. Her hands clasped around the thin smooth box and she swallowed taking a deep breath and looking from her Father to the box. She slid the lid open to reveal a small black tape recorder, barely the size of an iPod. She glanced up at her Farther briefly before pressing play.

Thea heard her Mother die.

Each moment broke her in an indescribable way. Her mother's voice was scratchy and weak begging for help, begging for her father. It lasted for seven minutes before the voice recording beeped.

"I love yyou, ssso much." Her mother cried, "I love you Malcolm, I love you Tommy." Her mother's sobs filled the silent office, Thea couldn't help the sob that came out of her mouth. Her mother's crying continued with a mixture of sentences and sobbing. She loved them, she needed her father, calling for help, over and over, but nobody came or heard. Thea felt her whole body stiffened and the recording stopped. They both sat in silence, haunted by the recording. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she tried to stop herself from completely crying.

"Your Mother is why we fight Thea." Her father said.

"Evil ripped her from us, the glades killed her." Glades, Thea looked up. G lades? She racked her brain, the glades was the worst part of town, how did it kill her mother? Anger boiled in her mind at the mere thought.

"I wish I could miss her." She sobbed.

"Every time you feel empty Thea, think of this, this is what we fight for." Thea looked at her father and nodded. Another wave of silence passed. She set the recorder on the coach and embraced her father. He hugged like when she was a little girl, rocking her back and forth.

"I feel so angry." She murmured, he nodded.

"And that's good child, we are going to use that anger, I am going to show you how to control it and then use it. You show so much promise Thea. He stroked her hair and she let her tears fall down her cheek.

He had her listen to the recording again, then again, and again. Until she knew the entire recording by heart and mind. For the first couple listens she was furious, then she began to sob, for her Father to stop and for her Mother lying dead in some slum. But he continued to play it over and over until it moved around the room endlessly. The sounds of her Mothers pain swirling around in her mind. Thea cried like when she was a child but her Father played it on. She slid away from him, yelling at him to stop, to turn it down. She drew her knees up to her chin and buried her head in her lap. Tear soaked her lap. Her father simply turned the volume up.

It was some where along the seventieth listen when she stopped crying, tears ceased spilling out of her eyes and she uncurled herself. The sound of her Mothers sobs echoed in her ears and mind. She stilled, watching her father who sat frozen in the chair opposite of her. Watching her as if he were studying something dangerous and exotic. She moved with lighting speed and agility bounding from her seat to her father grabbing the recorder before he could react. She felt the smooth metal in her hand and switched the button off.

"Stop." She hissed. A different kind of anger pulsed in her mind, it was like cold fire. "Stop playing it." They stared at each other for a long silent moment. She set the recorder back in the box and closed the lid. She calmly took a seat opposite him. Something clicked in her mind. A switch that turned on her statue. Her father spoke first.

"I am sorry I never thought of it the in that way, you never having a memory." He stood up, grabbing the box. "I forgot how important it is to have a mother, I am sorry Thea.' He set the box in her lap. She looked up at him, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

"I want to lean." His eyes filled with sadness again.

"And what is it that you want to learn my child?"

"Teach me how to control my emotions and use it as a weapon. I want to learn, I want to be a warrior." He bent down so they were at eye level.

"Thea," He said, his voice cracking. "I love you, and...and I want you to know once you start down this path, there is no turning back." She shook her head.

"I will not be weak." She said, her voice scratchy from all the sobbing. "I am not afraid." She clutched the little black box tightly. The cold fire in her heart pushed her up, Thea stood over her kneeling father.

"I know Tommy took the way out, but I am choosing the warriors way. Train me."


	3. Summer

**Authors Note: I do not own Arrow**

_July 1st 2009_

Thea opened her eyes and cried out in pain, her whole head throbbed, along with her stomach side, and her wrists. She sat up suddenly, groaning. _What the?_ It all came back to her, training, _Daddy's gonna train me! _Thea inspected her bruised wrists, a wave of nervousness washed over her. What would training be? Classes, fighting? Thea looked around, it was her bedroom at the mountain lodge, she hated the modern design, how impersonal the whole room felt, nothing like her bedroom at home, she loved the big pink canopy and large closet. On her nightstand was a clock that read 8:00am and the little black box. Damm that little black box. Thea rolled over on her side and shut her eyes tight. This was all so new, and yet she had felt the need to fight since she was a little girl. Thea saw good and bad plain as day and wanted to act on it, no she_ needed_ to act on it. Her Mother, _her Mother _had been murdered, the sound of her dying still echoed in her ears. Thea didn't think it would ever truly sink in.

She got up, got dressed and headed downstairs. Would they start training today? Her mind raced with the possibility. Thea felt giddy with excitement, she'd never trained any anything before, no combat experience or any skills with any type of weapon except for a couple years with her schools fencing club. Her hands shook in nervousness and at the idea she could possibly fail at stopped her halfway down the stairs. Her heart sunk, she imagined being a disappointment like Tommy, would her father ever be disappointed in her? He'd never exactly held up any standard for her, it wasn't like she was his oldest or...the thought that always bit at the back of her mind, it wasn't like she was his son. Thea tried to push the doubts out of her mind as she crossed the hallway into the kitchen. Her Father was sitting at the table when she came int, Ansari was sitting at the breakfast bar, lazily spooning large bites of some kind of white porridge into his mouth while watching the news, the blonde anchorwoman was reporting the weather and traffic. Her Father was sitting at the small table in the corner of the kitchen, only the top of his head peaking over the edge of the news paper. Thea froze at the doorway of the kitchen, a doubt had been creeping in her mind all morning, the image of a failed Tommy coming home from the "mountain lodge" with her Father. She feared he too would send her back. He flipped the paper back and smiled. _No_, she told herself, she was going to come in confidently and ask when they would begin training.

"Thea, good morning." A knife flew at her and Thea cried out,

'AHHH" she jerked back but it was still to late, the knife pierced the wall behind her and cut a gash across her face. She dropped down from pure shock, and gasping at both of them

"What the fuck!" She shrieked, she blinked at her Father, still smiling, she blinked at Ansari, who was grinning, a small knife in between his fingers, his other hand outstretched. She crouched against the wall breathing in harsh ups and downs. She reached up to the left side of her cheek and felt sticky blood. It felt deep and stung, Thea looked at her father, more shocked then hurt. He wasn't even fazed.

"Well," He said, taking a sip of his coffee, "Ansari just threw a knife at you," Thea looked at him, she didn't know how to react. He. Threw. A. Knife.

_Its not like I can remember the last time some one did that! _Ansari took another bite of the the white porridge, still looking smug, the second knife lying harmlessly at his side. "Get him back." Her father said, as if that were the most normal thing in the world. Thea started dumbly at them both for a moment.

"How?" She asked, her tone sounded whiny she knew. Her Father merely glanced over at Ansari, eating his breakfast and watching the news, acting as if he had not just thrown a knife at her face.

"Think honey."

"Think? Daddy? What? Ansari will just..." Thea looked up at Ansari and bounced up to her feet, he would see her coming right? Right? What did attack him really mean? Thea ran at Ansari, hands reaching out, he countered so fast, all she felt was one moment running toward him, and then feeling the cold tile collide with her body. She closed her eyes and brought her hands up to pat her throbbing head. "Daaadddy." She moaned, "I-I-I don't even." Her father helped her up and she looked up at him.

"You can't ever let your guard down with anybody honey, only we can trust each other Thea, treat everybody else as if they are going to kill you at any moment, because they will." Thea rubbed her fingers through her hair.

"We can trust Tommy though" She said, her father nodded after a moment,

"Yes, we can trust Tommy." She hoped her head wouldn't get a bump. She grinned,

"Everybody's gonna try and kill me?" She asked, standing up she looked over at Ansari, who went back to his breakfast. Her Father followed her gaze.

"I want you to know I don't trust anybody but you Thea." Ansari got up and scooped something into a bowl.

"Your going to want to eat some breakfast Thea." He said handing it to her.

"Eat up honey, we have a long walk ahead of us." Her Father took a seat back at the breakfast table and she joined him, trying the white porridge as he went back to reading the paper. The reporter began talking about the recent vigilante sighting. He had been surprisingly silent these past few weeks.

Her father had not been joking when he said they would be taking an actual walk. Thea was given a backpack and told to pack anything she might need in the front pocket. Her father gave her a pair of cargo pants, heavy combat boots, and a plain gray T-shirt to wear as uniform. Thea would have preferred something a little more...stylish but she dare not voice any remark that could be seen as "teen snark" as her father called it. She waited for her Father outside the house with Ansari, he looked slightly tired, his backpack weighing on his shoulders and the slight wind blowing his black hair back and forth across his eyes. She slung her pack over her shoulder, watching as her father came out accompanied by two others. She frowned, behind him, walked (well more swaggered) a punkish woman, wearing a black combat uniform of some kind, a whole side of her head was shaved and her eyes held a fire like danger, next to her was a very large oafish looking man wearing the same black uniform. She suddenly realized they were familiar. They had attacked her yesterday! They met her in a matter of minutes, standing behind her father in a soldier like stance.

"Thea this is, Ani." He said gesturing to the woman, who looked down on Thea and snarled. Snarled? Thea shrunk back slightly thin scowled. "And this is Mitch." He father pointed to the big man, standing a whole foot over even her father and four times the width. She noticed her father and a bow and arrow on slung on his back, and a sword of some kind on his hip. Ani had a large bow on her back and Mitch's pack was massive. Thea swallowed, her stomach churning with new emotions. Why all the people, she thought her father was going to just train _her_? She looked out toward the rising mountain, casting its shadow on her even now. The three others looked at her coldly, she didn't feel ready and she hated herself for it. Her father pulled her side.

"Thea," He said lifting her chin up. "I want you to know forever, everything I do is because I love you." She decided to play brave.

"I'm ready Daddy." She said, "I am not afraid, lets do this!" She hadn't noticed he was holding something in his hand. He slipped a very small silver locket into her palm She looked down at the tiny necklace. It was beautiful.

"It was your mothers." He said, so quiet, it was the closest thing her father got to a mumble. She immediately put it on, smiling as she felt the cold silver against her throat. Thea felt braver, stronger, suddenly ready to take on all of her fears. She smiled and her Father gave her one last gift.

A sheath with a long sharp knife, she buckled it around her waist with a sense of pride, she would return home this summer victorious. She wasn't Tommy, _Tommy isn't strong enough._ She though as she saw the look of pride in her Father's eyes. Thea had her mothers necklace and her silver knife. Her father lead her down the path into the shadow of the mountains. Her training began. The path began easily deceiving the girl who jumped to easily to conclusions. Thea followed her Father.

_August 20__th 2012_

Thea burst in through the back kitchen door, the heat from the slowly fading summer quickly filling up room, she was dressed in the black hood and pants, her quiver hung on her back in her hand she gripped a bow. Ansari was completing his usual morning routine. The weather man was talking about heat waves coming soon, her father was reading the paper.

"Just in time for a hearty breakfast." Ansari said making a wide gesture to the stove corner. Thea nodded, leaning her bow against the wall and setting her quiver down. She walked into the kitchen, the smell of warm food making her stomach grumble. She reached for a bowl, her father flicked down the paper,

"Good morning Thea." A knife flew at her, Thea caught it between her fingers and in an insant had thrown it back, a startled screech of pain came from Ansari, he tumbled out of his chair, his hand rushing up to his stabbed right eye, blood to leaked out of his wound, deep red streaks rolling down his cheek. Thea didn't hesitate, she moved quickly, leaping across the kitchen and in a swift movement kicked him, Ansari screamed again. Thea crouched down and pulled the knife out, another shriek, and she attacked again this time a quick stab in the exposed neck, Ansari was quick too, blindly trying to counter her attack, Thea was simply better. He tried jumping up and she hit him right in the eye, he aimed a kick she dodged and with a much forced as she could muster slammed him against the wall of the kitchen counter and with the knife slit his throat. The movement was effortless once she sunk underneath his skin, front left to right a simple swipe and Ansari stilled, the hair falling out of his eyes, the light drained out and he mouthed something that only came out as a moan. Thea let go of him and stood him, his body sliding down the counter wall and slumping down with a crash. Thea walked to the sink, knife in hand and calmly washed the blood off. She set the weapon in the sink and washed the blood off her own hands, the cold water giving her goosebumps. She dried off her wet hands with a towel and moved on to the hot pot of oatmeal, it still smelled delicious. Thea made a bowl, put four spoonfuls of brown sugar and as many strawberries as her bowl would allow, before going to the table. Her father briefly glanced up when she sat down across from him.

"Good morning Daddy." She said taking a bite, he took a drink of coffee. They finished their breakfast with the soft sound of the morning reporter talking of the recent vigilante speculations, birds sung outside and the oatmeal was delicious.

It had been a well spent summer.


End file.
